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Trying to shove local politics under your nose since before it was cool: Frederick County EditionSat, 17 Feb 2018 15:45:16 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngfrederick local yokelhttps://fredericklocalyokel.com
Did Billy “unwittingly” retweet Russian election propaganda? You bet he did!https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/16/did-billy-unwittingly-retweet-russian-election-propaganda-you-bet-he-did/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/16/did-billy-unwittingly-retweet-russian-election-propaganda-you-bet-he-did/#commentsFri, 16 Feb 2018 22:54:16 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13646He always does the best jobs!

Unless you’ve been unconscious in a ditch this evening, you’ve heard that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has handed forth an indictment charging thirteen Russians and three Russian companies with meddling in our election! If you haven’t had a chance to peruse the 37-page document it really is a must see. We couldn’t help but wonder if our most prolific local Trumpster, Billy Shreve, you know the guy who wants to “Trump Annapolis” as a state senator, “unwittlingly” put forth any of this propaganda as listed in these two parts of the indictment:

and…

You bet your #MAGA hat he did!

First let’s start with this:

Whoopsie Daisy!

Is “Unwitting” Billy’s middle name?

Because look at this parade of nonsense:

We think we should get some kind of journalistic award for digging all this out! But, we will settle for you voting this creep out of office!

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/16/did-billy-unwittingly-retweet-russian-election-propaganda-you-bet-he-did/feed/2fclocalyokel24q3j3.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 2.34.27 PMScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 5.16.14 PMScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 2.23.22 PMScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 2.24.45 PMScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 2.22.39 PMScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 2.18.13 PMScreen Shot 2018-02-16 at 2.17.59 PMWhy can’t some people just be still? Your first half of the meeting run-down, February 13th edition.https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/14/why-cant-some-people-just-be-still-your-first-half-of-the-meeting-run-down-february-13th-edition/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/14/why-cant-some-people-just-be-still-your-first-half-of-the-meeting-run-down-february-13th-edition/#respondWed, 14 Feb 2018 19:01:26 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13628Our meeting starts off with a nice recognition of the Linganore High School football team. Billy votes against the whole agenda, so can’t he just leave now? We have four nice public commenters. Many are present to talk about the amendments to the Forest Ordinance Bill. Melanie Cox, of the League of Women Voters, also commends the council for putting the hearing concerning DRRAs back on the agenda. The league has researched this issue, and believes this bill is a good way to balance growth in our community.

Next up is a rather lengthly discussion from Carson Bise on impact fees. You can read the whole report if you like. Basically, elementary and high schools will be severely overcrowded by 2026-27 if we aren’t careful.

Most of the council members have thoughtful comments and questions, but not Kirby! He seems to want to argue over the cost of the study, then doesn’t. Then he tells us that WE should have planned better for all this growth!

Is he actually admitting fault, or trying to pretend he hasn’t been on the board/council since 2010? He was a significant part of the “we” who should have done this hypothetical planning. Anyhoo, Kirby doesn’t think it’s much of a crisis yet. And, we have all these homes in the pipeline and all these homes were in the pipeline in the past, so all’s good?

Billy wants to know if FCPS is going to redistrict the whole county any time soon, you know because that’s such an easy, uncomplicated process! So, Urbana folks don’t be surprised when Billy starts advocating that your kids be shipped up to Thurmont!

John Mathias, our esteemed county attorney, is here to make a presentation on the legal side of DRRAs. He explains their history, court cases, and implications for our county. He tells of a certain court case which ruled that you couldn’t change the type of development once vesting had occurred. Mostly because it isn’t fair to the people who already invested in said development. It seems as though Mr. Mathias was sent there to explain to some people how to do their job. More power to him! Tony has much to say, but we are to the point where his voice is just a buzzing noise, so you’ll have to figure all that out on your own.

Lastly, before the council breaks, Jessica and Tony introduce some amendments to the County Executive’s Forest Ordinance Bill. With input from the community they came up with some compromises. The amendments pass, with Billy and Kirby voting no. It will now go back to a public hearing.

Bud then moves to have his forest bill removed from consideration. He tells us that he wishes there was more discussion before hand, before he felt the need to write his own bill. He states that compromise is good for the community and the country. And, we would really like to know, Bud, when things all broke down. We are still perplexed and angry over all that’s gone down lately. Bill is removed with Billy abstaining and Kirby voting no.

The council then goes into closed session, we hear that more shenanigans went down with the DRAA hearing. Stay tuned!

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/14/why-cant-some-people-just-be-still-your-first-half-of-the-meeting-run-down-february-13th-edition/feed/0fclocalyokel0852260e6679f71219b11bfe93c3a1f789e30730b7de842f9e666aab4717471c.jpg24kjol.jpgLove is in the air? LOLOLOL! Not with this county council! Your February 13th drinking game!https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/13/love-is-in-the-air-lololol-not-with-this-county-council-your-february-13th-drinking-game/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/13/love-is-in-the-air-lololol-not-with-this-county-council-your-february-13th-drinking-game/#respondTue, 13 Feb 2018 10:49:04 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13619Come on Floyd! Keep the crazy tucked in!

We haven’t had much time to recover from last week’s meeting, but hey who said keeping up with this county council was for the faint of heart? We’ll see if the spirit of St. Valentine fills the hearts of our favorite local characters, or if we are going to have a situation more along these lines:

Oh dear!

Grab your agendaand follow along, but do remember to take care. Billy isn’t coming to help any of our fans!

Lots of presenters to start off the evening! Impact Fee Report, Report on Developer Rights and Responsibilities (DRRA), and Interagency Internal Audits! Let’s toast to all of our hard working county employees who take a lot of abuse at the hands of some of our council. Mix up a big Love in a Glass in their honor!

It’s Forest Resource Ordinance time! Will the bills be reconciled or will there still be two? Mix up a pitcher of Love/Hate as the answer to that one is revealed to us!

Time to go behind closed doors to discuss a county executive appointment! Then we are back at 7:00 for more happy fun time! Grab some water to rehydrate!

We thought this was tabled, but things have a way of creeping back on to the agenda lately. We suppose the public pressure really paid off, for we return with a hearing on the DRRA bill. Will this hearing result in more badgering of the public by Tony? Will the developer’s lawyers once again be given unlimited time to answer questions? Is anyone running anything around here anymore?! Anyhoo, mix up a barrel of Love Gone Sour, since a lot has changed, and not for the better, with this council lately!

The public has a chance to speak and then we have some council member comments. This is always a crap shoot, so go ahead and make a row of Love Hurts shots, and fire at will!

This is a busy month for the council, and by extension us! So we’ll let you know what happens and then we are right back here on February 20th for another edition of your favorite local reality show. Happy Valentine’s Day!

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/13/love-is-in-the-air-lololol-not-with-this-county-council-your-february-13th-drinking-game/feed/0fclocalyokeldrunk_o_540640.jpg67e52099479921f0c662a3caf0e565220143c6fa2530bd7b6a72dee1988f8476.jpgd7d3cbe015b99b89ca456c0d553495ab.pngSeriously? How is our High Sheriff an expert on this?https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/07/seriously-how-is-our-high-sheriff-an-expert-on-this/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/07/seriously-how-is-our-high-sheriff-an-expert-on-this/#commentsWed, 07 Feb 2018 15:48:48 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13600If you watched yesterday’s county council meeting, you heard that our esteemed High Sheriff Jenkins was not available to present the mutual aid agreement with Washington County. When your Lady Yokels heard that he was meeting with the President well, we collectively looked like this:

Seriously folks, we love Frederick, but since when is our High Sheriff an expert on immigration or MS-13? There are bigger jurisdictions who surely have more expertise on this subject. Then again, maybe none of those folks toe the Trump line and wanted to be seen seated at the table with a man who says such terrible things about immigrants. Perhaps they don’t like the way that Trump paints all illegal immigrants as some kind of degenerate criminals. Our sheriff, on the other hand, holds no such qualms:

Great Zeus this is embarrassing. Here’s a news report on how Jenkins tried to shame other jurisdictions who didn’t take the ICE money. It’s amazing to us, with all the real problems we have here in Frederick County, Jenkins chooses to grandstand on the immigration stuff as though we are some kind of border state. He took a trip funded by the anti-immigrant group, FAIR, to get a first hand look at the border, made commercials for the same group, and supported the English Language Ordinance ,which was decidedly anti-immigrant. How this all connects to his responsibilities here in Frederick is beyond us. We have a real opioid issue in this county. People are dying, lives are being destroyed. That is what needs to be fixed right now. (And by fixed we don’t mean Billy Shreve’s film project, because as nice as that may seem, we are super skeptical that any at risk kids will participate.)

Thankfully, we have an election this year in which we can elect someone who will concentrate less on grandstanding on the national stage and will focus on what’s going on here in Frederick. If you haven’t heard of Karl Bickel click on this link and read all about him. This is the kind of law enforcement leadership we need.

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/07/seriously-how-is-our-high-sheriff-an-expert-on-this/feed/1fclocalyokelgiphy.gifScreen Shot 2018-02-07 at 9.52.02 AMScreen Shot 2018-02-07 at 9.51.43 AMEpic meeting of February 6th: round 2 (a doozy)https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/07/epic-meeting-of-february-6th-round-2-a-doozy/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/07/epic-meeting-of-february-6th-round-2-a-doozy/#respondWed, 07 Feb 2018 14:29:55 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13575The public hearing on the MDX amendment to “the Zoning Ordinance to specify additional permitted uses in the Mixed Use Development District” is an instance when zzzzzzzzoning is unfortunately not boring. To briefly touch on this, the perception is that this amendment is hand crafted to target the Jefferson Tech Park area and that to adopt it would mean these people end up with distribution centers such as what we see out on Buckeystown Pike in their neighborhood, to the detriment of their property values. Since Steve McKay, who has frequently spoken on zoning issues in the Monrovia area, and Stand Up Frederick have already posted thoughts on this, please see those links for information while we focus on how much we were confused by what happened at the lectern last night. (P.S. you probably know that Steve McKay will be running against Tony Chmelik in the District 2 Republican Primary, and after Chmelik’s abominable behavior this evening we could not be more pleased that he is doing so.) If Mr. McKay and Lisa Jarosinski, who is running in the Democratic primary, are the candidates in the D2 general election, that will be one lucky D indeed. Those are two fine candidates.

First of all, it was a great joy to hear from The Public at this meeting. The Public is a lot more interesting than Our Regular Cast of Characters. Ray Barnes spoke on behalf of County Executive Gardner and gave three concerns. He was questioned at length by Billy, who kept trying to rile Mr. Barnes up with his circular dislogic. Mr. Barnes kept his cool throughout this display, and was ultimately dismissed by Bud who claimed he never heard these concerns before tonight and he wants to know hear from the public. The Lawyer for the Jefferson Tech Park–why did he get his three minutes, plus many, many more minutes of chit chat? Is this how it is supposed to work? We don’t get that. That does not seem reasonable to us. This guy tries to bog us down with legalese, claiming it’s in the interest of public safety that the council approve this bill. He also throws out the term “belts and suspenders legislation,” to which we can only think, “When has that fashion combo ever been a good idea?”

Steve McKay spoke knowledgeably, per usual, as did Kai Hagen.

Then Kai also got the many, many more minutes of chitchat “privilege.” We chuckle a bit that Kai is never succinct (and of course, we recognize that this is because he is thoughtful and diplomatic, so he makes an effort to be thorough and careful) but this really wasn’t about him at all. Because it was about Tony Chmelik being rabid, ranting, obnoxious, asking him questions in a rude and angry tone and then talking over him every time he tried to answer. We don’t typically give Tony Chmelik too much grief, because as compared to the Shrelauter bookends, he tends to stand out in the more normal grownup conduct spectrum. Well, not last night! And then we have no one stopping it. M.C. Keegan-Ayer tried to introduce a point of order in all this, and was completely ignored. we were under the impression that someone wields a gavel at these things and is supposed to maintain order? Who is that? It took far too long for any effort to be made to curtail this behavior. Kai may be an At-Large candidate for the Council, but currently he is The Public. The Public doesn’t deserve to be treated with such rudeness.

Tony sniped that Kai hasn’t taken responsibility for this issue. Well. We have thoughts. That thought is that as an elected representative in this county it is currently Tony Chmelik’s responsibility to shirk. If he wants to make this a special responsibility of Kai Hagen’s, we can all follow his dreams. We can do so by electing Kai Hagen to our County Council. So there’s a thing to think up on. It appears to be the one simple trick to respecting everyone involved here.

Here are some handy dandy campaign resources; we are in no way affiliated with any of the candidates and this message was approved by no one:

The yokels all missed the very beginning, only to tune in as Melanie Cox of the League of Women Voters was saying, “…give us a chance to speak.” The immediate assumption is that this is about the botched process for changing Frederick County’s representation to the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO). If we’re wrong about that, let us know and we will edit. We keep threatening to write a meeting up without watching it and see if we can guess what happens, because we know our characters purty stinkin well at this point. For example, Melanie Cox is a classy lady for whom dignity and propriety is important, so under the circumstances, it makes sense to leap to the conclusion that she would have liked to see a transparent process for the thing that…spoiler alert…comes to fruition later on.

Regular examples of totally predictable events: Budget adjustments. Everyone votes for those, except Billy the Abstinent. Then everyone votes to approve the minutes, except Billy the Obstinate. And you also already know that he couldn’t bother to speak into his microphone.

We have a presentation on a Mutual Aid Agreement with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department and the Hagerstown P.D. A member of the Sheriff’s department comes in our Sheriff’s stead, because… hold on to your little ACLU fold-up Constitutions…because Jenkins is out of pocket. Why? Because he is meeting with The President about immigration. Another of the Yokels had a boss who used meeting with the president as her euphemism for going to do her powder room business, which makes us snicker.

Mr. Yokel observes from the other couch, “The President of What???” We will not go into our skepticism of Jenkins’ qualifications on this subject, from the vantage point of living on the Mason-Dixon border. Riding Arpaio’s coattails onto Fox is all the qualifications the Dunning-Kruger Administration requires. Mr. Yokel still believes this tale is sound and fury signifying nothing, and since Newt Gingrich declared that facts are no longer a thing (and heck if he isn’t painfully right), we will all believe in whatever manner our emotional states’ require. The decision is in favor of a cooperative approach to providing for the common defence.

We move on to stripping M.C. Keegan-Ayer of her appointment to MACO so that Tony Chmelik can have it. M.C. is classy and abstains from voting on a matter that pertains to herself. Guess who doesn’t?! Both of them speak in favor of improving the process by which this is done. Great idea…

There’s a presentation about closing the intersection of Old Frederick Rd. at 15, for the sake of safety and traffic efficiency. Much more of this is needed in that general area–both in the safety and efficiency department.

We come to the First Calendar Readings, which is mainly the Throw Covfefe at the Wall and See What Sticks section, as far as Billy Shreve is concerned. Steve McKay said it best:

Council Member Billy Shreve is introducing a bunch of bills. I guess you can tell that it’s an election year. Billy Shreve – known to abstain on most votes – is all of the sudden introducing a handful of bills. Sorry folks, but after three years of his disagreeable nature, this doesn’t impress me a bit.

No one wants to speak, making us wonder if there are any redeeming qualities these bills may have if their authors cannot be bothered to enlighten us. Chemlik feels a bit of shame and takes up his own cause on the wood chipping bill. Isn’t local politics sexxxxxxy? Shreve is the definition of shameless.

Justin’s bringing sexy back Fredneck style.

And we are on a break!

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/06/epic-meeting-of-february-6th-round-1/feed/5fclocalyokelIt’s been awhile. Do you remember how to drinking game?https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/06/its-been-awhile-do-you-remember-how-to-drinking-game/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/06/its-been-awhile-do-you-remember-how-to-drinking-game/#respondTue, 06 Feb 2018 12:06:50 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13566Oh, Max is ready to play along. Can we get thinking cats for certain council members? They really need them.

It is sometimes difficult to tell by reading theagenda, but tonight’s meeting looks like it could be a real doozy. So take care of your liver. As always, this game is just for giggles. Actually participating in this to the fullest may result in death. You’ve been warned.

The meeting starts as always with public comments. We aren’t going to hold our breath on anyone actually showing up to speak. Just hold your beer, just in case.

A bunch of budget adjustments on first up on the agenda. Billy will complain about the library grant because everyone knows folks go to Borders instead, Kirby will kvetch about Citizens, blah, blah, blah. Mix yourself akitchen sink.

Next up on the agenda, approval of minutes for 4 meetings. When Billy abstains mix yourself up a flaming asshole.

Now, it’s time to discuss a mutual aid agreement between the Fred Co Sheriff, Wash Co Sheriff and Hagerstown City Police. Where are the Fred City Police? Make yourself a missing in action while you ponder that.

Well, well well, it’s time to take a vote on the Maryland Association of Counties Legislative Committee County Council Representation. What? Didn’t Bud already executive decision this? Things could get snippy. Make yourself a T-bone in anticipation of Bud’s phone ringing with its Bad to the Bone ringtone.

What workshop items are in store for us? We don’t know what these are as they aren’t listed on the agenda. This might be a good time to hydrate with some good old water.

Time to look at a petition to close a portion of Old Frederick Road to improve the safety of Route 15. Pick your favorite drink and stick it in a cone when anyone complains about being inconvenienced by this proposal.

Lots of First Readings on the docket! Including those that Billy decided he better get going on before anyone brought up the fact that he did nothing but ABSTAIN during his entire tenure as a council member. Anyhoo, sip on your Lazy Dazewhile you endure this portion of the evening.

It’s time to vote on the dueling Forest Ordinance bills. With Bud’s voting patterns recently altered, we predict his version will be the one to make it through; Sip on your Forest Funk while you think of all the lost trees.

Before the break, they will vote to pull the Adequate Public Facilities bill, and then Billy will vote against going into closed session. If it isn’t too close to 7:00, we may get treated to Billy complaining about having to waste all his precious time at Winchester Hall.

MDX hearing is the last bit of business this evening. There’s a lot of opposition to this bill because it would theoretically allow a warehouse to go next to a school or a housing development. Mainly, it’s introduction has to do with the fact that the Jefferson Technology Park did not fill up the way the previous BOCC claimed it would. While you listen to the arguments mix up a pitcher of Nuclear Disaster, and think of all the bad things the Young BOCC have brought upon this fine county.

Public and council member comments can get a little dicey, however, you’ve been through enough for one evening.

Don’t end up like Jonesy.

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/02/06/its-been-awhile-do-you-remember-how-to-drinking-game/feed/0fclocalyokel1l8o6u4de3d3e0e7b7fc547127a8034a8898c3Take your pick. You may need more than one drinking game tonight.https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/01/30/take-your-pick-you-may-need-more-than-one-drinking-game-tonight/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/01/30/take-your-pick-you-may-need-more-than-one-drinking-game-tonight/#respondTue, 30 Jan 2018 17:21:13 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13559Well, they are too happy. But you may need that glass!

The State of the Union Address is taking place tonight. Your Yokels do not plan to watch. We may check in with Wonkette. They always have something clever to say.

If your nerves can take watching it tonight there are several good drinking games out there for you to play. As always, make responsible decisions. If everyone plays along, emergency rooms will be over capacity. It’s almost time for a full super moon eclipse so let’s go easy on our healthcare professionals.

This one looks great. I don’t even think you actually have to be a lawyer to participate. Bonus points because they included the term hobgoblin.

Rolling Stone also has a great game. It includes options for everyone, even if you aren’t watching.

So we are only giving you three choices. If you don’t like any of them, make up your own.

We’ll see you tomorrow. Make sure you have enough aspirin.

We warned you Huckleberry. Mind your consumption

]]>https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/01/30/take-your-pick-you-may-need-more-than-one-drinking-game-tonight/feed/0fclocalyokelNot too much wineOh God!How are Shrelauter’s campaigns going? Not too good!https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/01/28/how-are-shrelauters-campaigns-going-not-too-good/
https://fredericklocalyokel.com/2018/01/28/how-are-shrelauters-campaigns-going-not-too-good/#commentsSun, 28 Jan 2018 16:46:01 +0000http://fredericklocalyokel.com/?p=13548Howdy folks! It’s that time of the month where we check out just how well Shrelauter’s campaigns for County Executive and Maryland State Senate are going. With just 6 months to the primary, we are getting into crunch time. Last week, theFNP did a story regardingthe first financial reports of local campaigns, and we couldn’t help but chuckle at this:

Annual campaign finance reports filed this week show Giangrande with a cash balance of just over $100,000 in his campaign account while Shreve’s stood at $3,220.

Shreve said he was not concerned and hadn’t really begun fundraising. He planned to start in April, he said, adding that his focus now was on governing.

“I don’t need a lot of money to win this race,” he said.

AND:

Delauter’s spokesman, Cameron Harris, said Delauter was pleased by the number of small donors contributing to his campaign compared with the other candidates.

Harris noted that Delauter was the only one who hadn’t accepted a donation over $1,000. Harris said the campaign pledged not to do so. However, the campaign had accepted more than $1,000 — in separate checks — from at least one donor.

Delauter’s campaign clocked $12,000 in loans, coming from the candidate and some of his business interests.

LOL!!!! Well, lets take a look at Kirby and Billy’s “official” campaign Facebook pages to see how they are handling themselves!

Let’s begin with Kirby:

So much about this is deceptive. First of all, there are no separate county and property taxes. They are one and the same. Secondly, the county tax rate has NOT been “hiked”. The state has raised some property owner’s assessments, which means they will pay more based on that assessment. However, the county tax rate was not raised. And, have we learned nothing from the first George Bush? You can’t make promises like this! You can’t predict the future!If we were the plagiarizing kind, like some people, we would give this post three thousand Pinocchio noses!

Next up:

Okay then! Never forget that these two go hand-in-hand! Why is sanctuary in quotes? What does Kirby think that sanctuary represents here?

And we thought at one point Kirby was FOR “sanctuary counties”

A nice sentiment, but see below:

First of all, sorry Kirby, but there’s no way in hell you wrote a word of this. Secondly, this runs contrary to some other things that Kirby has posted:

Points to remember, he’s going to roll-back tax hikes that NEVER happened. He’s going to build the cheap schools that will end up costing us more money in the long run. He’s against “sanctuary county”. (Again with the quotes!) And, he wants to take money away from the public school system to create a voucher program. All of this is valuable information folks!

Now, Billy’s page is oh so very sad. So, we’ll just let it speak for itself:

Bud starts off the meeting reassuring us that he supports any actions the council can take to stop human trafficking, so he still has that going for him! County Executive candidate Kirby Delauter is absent…again. We have to say we were so impressed with the presentation this evening. Kudos must go out to Jessica Fitzwater for brining this to everyone’s attention. So many knowledgable, articulate folks came in front of the council to give us information about this sickening problem. You can read the entire report here or just look at our highlights:

This is a heat map. What is shows are where the hotline calls regarding human trafficking are coming from. Notice that Frederick is in the red. That means there’s a lot of activity going on in our area.This nice lady works for the State Prosecutor’s Office. She made us aware of the fact that many agencies do not have good information to pass on to victims of human trafficking. Something that this task force wants to remedy.Oh, why oh why can’t our High Sheriff be more like Frederick Police Chief Hargis?(PSST, our High Sheriff was not in attendance this evening, probably because he was NOT in support of this task force, he believed that everything that could be done was already being done—VOTE KARL BICKEL!)

Frederick mayor Michael O’Connor told us some of the recommendations of the committee:

Making sure all bodyworks establishments are properly licensed. (This is the only time Billy pipes up this evening-he wants to have a definition of bodyworks, we can only imagine what must have been going through that mind of his.)

Penalties for landlords and tenants who knowingly allow human traffickers to operate.

The creation of a survivor services fund created from the confiscated property of the human trafficker(s).

Creation of signs that alert the public to what human trafficking looks like, both sex and labor trafficking. In other words: “If you see something, say something”!

Chief Hargis likened this problem to domestic violence 30 years ago. 30 years ago (and this is really hard to stomach folks), domestic violence wasn’t on anyone’s radar. It wasn’t seen as a law enforcement problem. That’s how the issue of human trafficking has been treated..as someone else’s problem. But it isn’t, its a human problem that all humans should be concerned about. Contrary to what the High Sheriff or Billy or Kirby would lead us to believe, this isn’t just a problem for the federal government to solve. If a victim is found in Frederick County, and there have been numerous cases here, it’s a Frederick County problem. If you want more information about human trafficking visit the Polaris site. And after you read that, don’t ever, ever forget that Billy Shreve said that there are groups in favor of this. We don’t need a voice like that representing us in Annapolis.

Late in the day, the council agenda was changed to reflect this addition:

There was no clickable link, so we didn’t have any other information to go on. When it came time to vote we get this breakdown:

Yay-Jessica, M.C., Bud, Tony, Jerry

Abstain-Billy

Partying it up in Punta Cana-Kirby

Now, we have no idea what in the world is going on with this! Anyone who can enlighten us please send us a line!